Chapter 686 - 300: Officially Setting Sail!

The best two rooms on the lower deck are naturally the captain and first mate’s rooms.

Since Li Younan is staying in the master bedroom, these two rooms are for him and Old Chen.

At this time, besides Li Younan and the two ladies he brought, there are five actual crew members on this ship, but there are only four rooms below.

Although Li Younan thought one person could stay in a guest room upstairs, Qin Yue suggested it’s better not to do so.

He believes this could unconsciously disrupt the team atmosphere—after all, if one crew member stays in an upper deck guest room, would the other crew members still see him as one of them?

This might cause unexpected inconveniences in situations requiring absolute obedience.

Especially since Ren Xiaohuan and Lu Zhiqing among the crew are people Li Younan knows.

If Li Younan clearly treated Lu Zhiqing and Ren Xiaohuan as "crew members" like Jing Chaoyi and Liu Li, it’s fine, but since they need to be managed as crew personnel, Qin Yue needs to nip potential troubles in the bud.

The solution is quite simple.

Whether it’s the two young sailors or the two women Shen Mo and Ren Xiaohuan, they can share a crew room.

As for ship doctor Lu Zhiqing, given his dual roles, he deserves a separate room.

The final negotiation result is the two women sharing a room.

To be fair, although the lower deck rooms are for the crew, Li Younan did impeccable soundproofing in each room, especially covering the power room with thick soundproofing cotton, reducing the noise from generators and engines to only tens of decibels in the crew rooms, not affecting rest at all.

While the room layout doesn’t match a typical hotel, each room isn’t cramped, and with Li Younan personally overseeing the decor, they rival some small to medium-sized yacht guest rooms, making every crew member feel comfortable inside.

The benefit of having all the crew concentrated on the lower deck is the ease of gathering personnel for unified management.

Li Younan appointed Qin Yue as the first mate of the ship, granting him sufficient authority.

More often than not, Li Younan doesn’t plan to disrupt Qin Yue’s arrangements; he focuses on important decisions while leaving personnel management, policy implementation, shift scheduling, and other tasks to Qin Yue.

Once everyone was in their positions, the inspector arrived.

His main job is to verify the yacht’s standards through dynamic condition validation.

In the past two days, the inspector and Li Younan drafted a seaworthiness outline together.

After reviewing this yacht modified from a research ship, with his frequent experience in this work, he already has a rough idea of the yacht’s sailing capabilities.

Admittedly, this yacht, being reconstructed from a military-grade research ship, far surpasses ordinary yachts of similar size in performance parameters, with impeccable stability.

Even with his discerning eyes, it’s unlikely any issues will arise during this trial sail.

What surprised him was that Li Younan, as the shipowner, didn’t hire a professional captain but instead took on the role himself.

While there are cases where inaugural voyage captains conduct trial sails, it’s clear that experience is crucial in sea navigation.

Moreover, shipowners are often prestigious individuals; having them personally act as captain... This was the first time in the inspector’s career!

Fortunately, there is experienced first mate Qin Yue and the original chief engineer Old Chen from the research ship on board, so this trial sail should have no issues.

The first day involves staying on the ship without immediately setting sail.

The inspector needs to verify technical documents, cross-check ship diagrams, equipment, certifications, and check static equipment to ensure safety compliance and good condition while recording equipment serial numbers and certificate correspondences. This work requires a full day.

As the crew began to work seriously, Li Younan became somewhat idle, wandering around the ship.

He’d occasionally check on Qin Yue and Old Chen who were working with the inspector or drop by the kitchen to see Lu Zhiqing cooking, teasing him about the fish being slightly overdone.

It’s worth mentioning that he brought two silly birds on board, placing their nests in his luxurious bedroom.

After all, his room has over 20 square meters, making it easy to accommodate two bird cages.

The silly birds didn’t know what they would face next; since they’re not sea birds, some risks exist.

However, Li Younan wasn’t too worried—aren’t those classic pirate movies often featuring cyclops captains with parrots? In some sense, ravens and parrots are on par—high intelligence and talkativeness.

After teasing the raven and leaving the room, the bird suddenly called "dad" in a raspy voice behind him, startling Li Younan.

His eyes twinkled, suddenly brewing a mischievous idea.

Perching the raven on his shoulder, Li Younan approached Liu Li and Jing Chaoyi who were cleaning the restaurant outside, saying, "Look, let me show you something."

Jing Chaoyi and Liu Li both looked at Li Younan.

Li Younan tapped the raven’s head, "Say what you called earlier."

The raven tilted its head, looking at Li Younan in confusion.

Seeing its sudden stupidity, Li Younan felt embarrassed, saying discontentedly, "Damn, call me!"

The raven seemingly understood, calling out "dad."

Jing Chaoyi and Liu Li were dumbfounded.

Li Younan proudly said, "Impressive, huh?"

Then the raven pointed at Liu Li and said, "This is mom."

Liu Li’s eyes widened, her face turning bright red. She hesitated but looked expectantly at the raven.

Jing Chaoyi also curiously looked over.

The raven looked at Li Younan, then at Liu Li, suddenly turned to Jing Chaoyi and called "mom."

The three were instantly petrified.

"Damn, you silly bird!"

"Senior, don’t mind it, it’s just bird nonsense."

"Uh... I don’t really mind... Senior, don’t hit the raven, it’s just bird nonsense, bird nonsense."

...

After a whole day’s fuss, at 6 AM the next morning, they were set to formally set sail.

And the inspector’s dynamic testing was also to begin.

In the flybridge cockpit, both Li Younan and Qin Yue were present.

All instruments seemed normal, but then a warning message made both of their expressions change slightly in unison.

Their route would pass through Zhoushan Archipelago, and unfortunately, December in Zhoushan Archipelago is a high wind frequency area during winter.

At this moment, the Beidou ship terminal system interface on the vessel showed a weather chart indicating strong winds expected in an hour, 8~9 on the scale.

Qin Yue hesitated, looked at Li Younan, waiting for the captain’s decision.

Li Younan touched his chin, and after a moment, smiled, saying, "Never mind, set sail as planned!"

A little wind and waves are nothing.

It’s a great opportunity to test the ship and his sailing skills.